Search

This article presents informal recycling contributions made by scavengers in the surrounding area of Bantar Gebang final disposal site for municipal solid waste generated in Jakarta. Preliminary fieldwork was conducted through daily conversations with scavengers to identify recycling actors at the site, and then quantitative field surveys were conducted twice. The first survey (n = 504 households) covered 33% of all households in the area, and the second survey (n = 69 households) was conducted to quantify transactions of recyclables among scavengers. Mathematical equations were formulated with assumptions made to estimate the possible range of recycling rates achieved by dump waste pickers. Slightly over 60% of all respondents were involved in informal recycling and over 80% of heads of households were waste pickers, normally referred to as live-in waste pickers and live-out waste pickers at the site. The largest percentage of their spouses were family workers, followed by waste pickers and housewives. Over 95% of all households of respondents had at least one waste picker or one small boss who has a coequal status of a waste picker. Average weight of recyclables collected by waste pickers at the site was estimated to be approximately 100 kg day-1 per household on the net weight basis. The recycling rate of solid wastes collected by all scavengers at the site was estimated to be in the range of 2.8–7.5% of all solid wastes transported to the site. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents an informal recycling system managed by scavengers in Bantar Gebang final disposal site for municipal solid waste generated in Jakarta. Data were obtained through daily conversations with scavengers who deal with recyclables in the site. Seven processing steps of informal recycling were observed at the site. Scavengers at the site were referred to as their managerial names in their community, and then at least 8 types of recycling actors were identified: 1) big boss, 2) small boss, 3) big middleman, 4) small middleman, 5) live-in waste picker, 6) live-out waste picker, 7) independent waste picker, and 8) daily worker. Live-in and live-out waste pickers were continuously employed by their bosses, while independent waste pickers and daily workers depended on temporary employer–employee relationships. The positions of the recycling actors were not always fixed and there were many paths of career tracks and setbacks mainly due to individual economic status. All big bosses and big middlemen have built direct connections with recycling factories, and the community of scavengers in the site recognized them as big bosses and big middlemen due to the connections. A big boss of waste pickers, mainly dealing with plastic recyclables, was intensively investigated to clarify the buyer–seller relationship between the boss and other recycling actors. Common ground between formal and informal sectors should be built for making new waste management policies in the way that the existing informal recycling system is successfully integrated into the formal recycling system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This study reviews the current income level of waste pickers to provide insights that will help determine adequate wage levels for recyclers in a potential integrated waste management system. The Bantar Gebang landfill of Bekasi City in West Java (a province of Indonesia) has been selected as the survey site. The landfill is operated not unlike an open dumpsite due to poor management, and informal waste pickers actively collect waste on the site. Therefore, this case is an excellent starting point from which to explore the income levels of waste pickers. The analysis is based on qualitative data obtained from an 890-day field survey and quantitative data from structured interviews with 156 residents from 78 households between February 2010 and March 2020. The results show that the average monthly household income of waste pickers was IDR 2,401,697.7 (US$ 197.0). The waste pickers' income per person (IDR 1,200,848.9) was below that of all industries and occupations in the formal and informal sectors. Even the income per person of independent waste pickers (IDR 1,800,023.8), who had the highest average income, was below the legal minimum wage (IDR 2,250,000). When there was more than one worker in the household, the income per capita was lower than the legal minimum wage; however, when there was only one worker in the household (where the household income corresponds to the individual income), the income per capita was at the same level as the legal minimum wage. • The monthly average personal income of informal recyclers was US$ 89.7. • The average income varied depending on the number of workers in the household. • The monthly one-person household income is equal to the legal minimum wage. • Wages in integrated waste management should differ based on the waste-picking activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]